My Secret Son
by WyldClaw
Summary: In Starclan Nightkit ( tigerstar's sister) , Marigold (yellow fang's sister) and Mosskit ( bluestar's daughter) learn of patch pelt's greatest shame. takes place after 'the sight'. oneshot. please read and review


My secret son by Wyldclaw

Plot: A kind of a POV reflection though the eyes of Graystripe's father to some StarClan kits. Don't own anything but and my warriors' books. I based the parts where he's talking to the kits from the Cats of the clans. Book. Italics are flashbacks and {. } Are thoughts. Enjoy!

xXx xXx XxX

Hello little ones, you look tired from playing, would you like to sit by me for a bit and hear a story?

What are your names? So you are Marigoldkit of ShadowClan? Yes I've heard about you and your littermate from your big sister Yellowfang. You don't have to be afraid of foxes or your evil tyrannical nephew Brokenstar for he is in the Dark Forest and will never come here. . I'm not going to bite you, Mosskit. You remind me of Bluestar. I was her denmate for a while. No, you silly kit it wasn't when the great clans walked the earth- even I'm not that old. Hello, Nightkit, you can sit closer if you want to. You look so your mother Leopardfoot when she was your age. Where are my manners? I didn't introduce myself. I'm Patchpelt, Adderfang and Swiftbreeze's black and white son, brother to ThunderClan's Spottedleaf, Redtail, Leopardfoot and Willowpelt. Yes Nightkit that means I'm your uncle, for Leopardfoot was my littermate.

Have you heard of Graystripe, the great Firestar's best friend? The ThunderClaner who took a RiverClan mate only to lose her during kitting. don't hiss like that Marigoldkit! I'm aware that's against the warrior code. The same Graystripe, who sacrificed himself to a twoleg monster to save his Clanmate and ended up journeying to the lake with the help of Millie, a former kittypet who is now his mate. Sheath your claws Nightkit-just because Pinestar abandoned your mother and siblings to become a kittypet on his last life does not mean they are all bad. I have seen his trials and achievements with a mixture of pride and sadness. graystripe knew me from a tiny kit to a young warrior as an elder but he didn't know the terrible truth. When he was young Willowpelt told him very little about who his father was but here is the truth: I am his father.

Shocking, I know. He knew me as an elder- for I was in a much older litter than her- never as his father. I admit I was surprised when Willowpelt told me. I can still recall how she told me. It was a warm late greenleaf day and we were out hunting...

 _I crept up on the thrush as quietly as I could. The bird was pecking the ground for worms and did not sense my presence until I pounced on it. It tried to fly away but I jumped up and swatted it down. I killed it with a bite to the neck. "Well done" Willowpelt commented from a few feet away as I gave thanks to StarClan for the fresh kill._

 _"'Fanks" I muttered with the fresh kill in my mouth. I buried the bird in a hole in the ground she made and covered it up. I spat out a few feathers from my mouth. "Yuck. I hate getting feathers in my teeth."_

 _._

 _"Good job... for an old tom" Willowpelt teased._

 _I pretended to swipe at her. "Hey, I 'm a senior warrior. Sis. Show some respect to your elders. "_

 _She rolled her eyes at me._ _"Yes, oh wise older brother of mine. " her whiskers twitched in amusement. We weren't really that close since we were from two different litters but sometimes hunting like this made us feel like we were._

 _"Hey, This old tom's still got a few more battles left in him, thank you very much."_

 _We moved on through the forest. "Did you hear about Redtail?" I meowed._

 _She purred. "Yes, I did. Brindleface told me - she was glowing so much I almost thought she was a StarClan cat. He will make a wonderful father-he's such a good tom. Much better than..." the pale gray cat trailed off and shuddered. I knew why she stoped. We didn't talk much about Tawnyspots, Darkpaw's father and our old deputy who had passed on a while ago. He had been sick in the mind when he forced himself on our poor sister when she was alone one day. She came to me after she found herself pregnant with Darkpaw. It didn't help that Darkpaw would be made a warrior very soon._

 _She sighed. "I sure hope Darkpaw dosent turn out to have a bad side to him. I would love to be a mother one day. "_

 _I licked her face. "Don't worry Willowpelt, I'm sure that Darkpaw won't turn out bad... I'm sure you'll find a loving mate one day. Someone who will see your true beauty and love you for who you are"_

 _"There's something else..."She sighed again and motioned with her tail for us to sit down in a little clearing we had come to._

 _"What's the matter?"_

 _She looked away for a few minutes and sighed "Patchpelt."_

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"You remember a half moon ago when we were gathering catnip for Spottedleaf and we got caught in that rainstorm and had to take shelter in that old tree?"_

 _"I think so" I tried to recall. "It's kinda of fuzzy."_

 _"You acted pretty funny and strange that day." She looked away for a heartbeat and then looked back at me with her blue eyes. I had a sinking feeling. "A few sunrises ago I was feeling tired and my stomach kept on growling for more food even after I ate. I went to Spottedleaf to see if it was a bad piece of fresh kill -and. Sh-she told me- "_

 _The memory hit me like a monster rushing across the Thunderpath. It had been a cold day and she had sent us to find the herb before the rain came. Willowpelt and I had gathered a lot but then it started pouring on us so we found an old fox den to wait out the storm. I had some of the catnip in my mouth so it wouldn't get wet in the den. I remembered accidently swallowing some and that's when my memory got fuzzy..._

 _My eyes went wide as I looked and saw her belly was slightly bigger than normal. {Oh no! I mated with her under the influence of catnip} oh great StarClan! This can't be happening! } I lowered my voice. "You're having kits. Not just any kits-m-m-my kits "_

 _"Y-yes" she hiccupped. "sp-spottedleaf asked who was the father and I couldn't lie. She's gonna keep our secret . It's incest ... it's not right! y-you're m-my brother! It's n-not r-right" she choked on the words like it was a mouse stuck in her throat._

 _I went up to her, wrapped my tail around her body and licked her cheek. She buried her face into my pelt and started whimpering. "hey, it's okay, willowpelt. Don't cry. It's going to be alright. It's not your fault - I suppose it's my fault for swallowing the catnip. " I repeated in a soft tone. {Oh great I'm turning into Swiftbreeze}_

 _. I thought of something. "at least you're not having a ShadowClan's cat's kits"_

 _She got her face out of my fur and looked up at me with a disgusted look. " yuck . I'd rather be turned into a kittypet"_

Yes I agree with you both Nightkit and Mosskit. Her statement would be quite ironic in the future.

 _"look, what if you made up the father" I suggested._

 _She looked at me . "you mean pretend?"_

 _I nodded. "yup. If any cat asks … Tell them that you were hunting alone when a passing rogue forced himself on you and you couldn't defend yourself"_

 _She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "like a rogue would be able to do that to me without earning some claw marks and insults in return. "_

 _"I promise that I will go along with your ploy and not tell any cat. I'll just be the kits' uncle. Heck to avoid wary looks I'll move into the elder's den a few moons after the kit is born . These old bones aren't what they used to be. "_

 _she blinked her blue eyes. "you'd do that? F-for me?"_

 _"what are big brothers for?" I grinned._

 _"thanks. You know Goldenflower will be dissapointed. She wanted to have kits with you"_

 _"Well..." my mind went to the pretty golden she cat. " technically I'm not in StarClan yet. So she could-"_

 _Willowpelt swatted my head with her tail. "You sly fox. Thanks again for keeping my secret, Patches" she used her kithood nickname for me. "You're the best"_

 _"Any time. Now lets see if we can bring down another squirrel " We got up, left the clearing and resumed hunting._

I never regretted my vow. It was hard having to see my son grow up. No, Mosskit, I didn't tell a soul- not even Bluestar. Spottedleaf saw how hard it was to keep the truth hidden. Indeed when he was first kitted I wanted to yowl the words " I'm a father to healthy handsome tom". I wanted to announce it like Redtail had a few sunrises before. She let me see him after he was born and I felt the joy and pride of seeing that tiny kit. At that moment the truth didn't seem so bad at all knowing I had helped shape this wonderful handsome kit into the world. It was the first and only time I whispered the words "my beautiful son" to him.

. It was tough when he visited the elder's den. One time he asked me the one question I could never answer:

 _"Wake up, you old coot " Halftail's deep voice penetrated m wonderful dream of which I was playing a father- son game of moss-ball with Graykit and laughing._

 _I sleepily opened my eyes and stared at the old brown tom as he poked me with his paw. "I wasn't sleeping- I was just resting my eyes," I mumbled as I got to my paws and yawned._

 _"Sure you were" One-eye replied. "That's what they all say. " Dappletail was sound asleep._

 _"Wh-why did you wake me up? I was having a good dream" I yawned._

 _" We got little visitors coming" Halftail told me. Sure enough I saw three chattering bundles of fur coming toward us on the leaf-dappled ground- one a pale ginger, one a brown tabby and a certain gray bundle of kitten fluff I knew too well. ._

 _The ginger kit got to the den first- Brindleface's daughter Sandkit. "I win! You guys are to slow"_

 _A brown tabby padded up to her, carrying a mouse in his mouth- Dustkit. Robinwing's son and her were close friends- I only wished he wouldn't distance himself from his nervous brother Ravenkit He put the mouse in front of us. "You should have waited, Sandkit. I was picking out a mouse to bring here."_

 _"Is it my fault I'm fast Dustkit?" she pouted._

 _"Um..." he turned his attention to a small gray tom kit who was catching up to them. "C'mon Graykit! Don't be so slow"_

 _Graykit ignored him as he padded over with a fat mouse in his mouth. I stared in awe as he put it down in front of me; he looked at me with his yellow eyes. "Here you go, Patchpelt. Willowpelt said you really like mice and she took me to the training hollow and I caught it by myself"_

 _. {How handsome he's gotten I remember seeing him when he was born- a lump of pale gray fur.} Now he had grown bigger and there was a darker gray stripe on his back. "All by yourself?" I questioned_

 _He looked up at me and nodded. "Uh-huh. Willowpelt said- she- said that you and her were littermates"_

 _Halftail looked at me and then at Graykit. "Willowpelt is related to this furball? "_

 _{_ _Think of him like your nephew, think of him like your nephew}.  "Um. Willowpelt was from a much younger litter than me. " I ate the mouse. I looked up at the small tom. "Thank you for the meal, young one. She's right- I do like mice" _

_"Patchpelt, did you know who my father is?" I was rendered speechless at this inquiry and almost gagged on the mouse._ _" She never really talks about him"_

 _A lie easily came into my head- "she was pretty distraught. She was hunting when this rouge came out of nowhere and pinned her to the ground. She couldn't defend herself and-"_

 _Halftail's words made me want to 'accidently' claw his pelt. "Willowpelt didn't fight back? That doesn't seem like her- "_

 _Sandkit piped up, saving my pelt. "Can you tell us a story?"_

 _One-eye looked down at her- her expression soft. "Certainly dearie, which story would you like to hear?"_

 _"How about when Bluestar was an apprentice?" Graykit asked._

 _"No I wanna hear about LionClan" Dustkit and Sandkit pleaded at the same time._

 _I chuckled. "Okay young ones. We'll have time for all those stories. Want to hear the tale of how snakes came to the forest."_

 _"Yeah!"_

 _All three pairs of young eyes sparkled with excitement and kept their eyes on Halftail, One-eye and I as we began the story_

Looking back, I did not regret my promise. I did not want us to be ostracized for the shameful deed that landed on my shoulders. No you three-I'm glad with my choice. I am glad that I got to see my son become a warrior before I died. Sadly I have never meet my grandson Stormfur only my beautiful granddaughter Feathertail. I see by your chattering you three have talked to her.

I can still look down on Graystripe and my other kin as they live out their lives on. It is hard knowing he will never know the truth but one day when he arrives in StarClan, I will tell him the shameful truth about him being my secret son.

Come, little ones. I'll race you to that rock. Okay? On the count- Hey! I haven't said go yet!

The end


End file.
